Orlando Health, Orlando City Foundation Partner with 4Roots for Nutrition Education Study

The study will collect outcomes for two years

Orlando, FL (April 2, 2024) – Orlando Health and the Orlando City Foundation have partnered with a 4Roots research initiative to assess the impact and adherence of nutrition-based and education interventions.

The organizations have joined forces to create Rooted in Health, part of the 4Roots Culinary Health Institute, to improve education and healthy food access to promote long-term adherence. As part of the study, 4Roots is recruiting low-income seniors to participate. The program is predicated on the connection between chronic disease and diet. 

Study participants can purchase food, using SNAP dollars and Fresh Access Bucks from the 4Roots Mobile Farmers’ Market. 4Roots will also host classes and culinary demonstrations on topics including, nutrition and its impact on chronic illness, cooking on a budget, preparing more plant-forward meals and the use of spices. Each participant will also receive recipes so that they can make healthy meals on their own.

“Providing nutrition education is an investment in not only the health and well-being of individuals, but in the community as a whole,” said Lainie Fox Ackerman, assistant vice president, Orlando Health External Affairs and Community Benefit. “We’re delighted to be able to support 4Roots through this grant and look forward to seeing the positive outcomes it yields for the participants and beyond.”

Rooted in Health took shape when 4Roots submitted a grant application to the Orlando Health Community Grant Program. The healthcare organization, which is the official medical team of Orlando City Soccer Club and the Orlando Pride, saw an opportunity to elevate the initiative by collaborating with long-time partner Orlando City Foundation. The study will take place over a two-year timeframe, and the grant total is $138,923.

“We are grateful to Orlando Health and Orlando City Foundation for the opportunity to carry out our mission to unearth the power of food to build healthy communities,” said John Rivers, 4Roots Founder and CEO. “The more we understand the connection between a whole food healthy diet and chronic disease, the more we can educate and improve access for the underserved in our community,” he continued. “It says a lot that these organizations are investing in our effort to build a stronger, more sustainable local food system.”

As part of Orlando Health’s ongoing commitment to be engaged and involved in communities throughout Central Florida, the organization offers competitive grants through the Orlando Health Community Grant Program to assist in coordinating, enriching and supporting efforts that help promote health and wellness in our community. For more information, visit www.orlandohealth.com/about-us/community-involvement. 

4Roots is dedicated to restoring the delicate balance between community and nature: a relationship forged in harmony to sustain life for all of God’s creation. With a focus on regenerative farming, sustainability, and an awakening to the symmetry between food and medicine, 4Roots is a place where thoughts are exchanged, innovation is inspired, and changes that transform the world come to life.

About Orlando Health 

Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $9.6 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. 

Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level I Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level II Adult Trauma Center in Pinellas County. It is the home of one of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care units, one of the only systems in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows. 

The 3,487-bed system includes 33 hospitals and emergency departments – 26 of which are currently operational with seven coming soon. The system also includes nine specialty institutes, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility under the management of Acadia Healthcare, and more than 375 outpatient facilities that include physician clinics, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with CareSpot Urgent Care. More than 4,950 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 29,000 team members and more than 1,400 physicians. 

In FY 23, Orlando Health cared for 197,000 inpatients and 6.6 million outpatients.  The healthcare system provided nearly $1.3 billion in total impact to the communities it serves in the form of community benefit programs and services, Medicare shortfalls, bad debt, community-building activities and capital investments in FY 22, the most recent period for which this information is available.

Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.

About 4Roots

The 4Roots Farm Campus, located in The Packing District, is in the heart of Orlando’s emerging neighborhood. It invites the community to gather and collaborate on the creation of a robust local food system. With a diverse range of growing systems, it offers a unique hands-on learning experience that highlights innovative and sustainable practices and technologies from around the world. Learn more at 4Roots Farm Campus or follow us at @4rootsfarmcampus on Instagram and Facebook.